Credit Cards are a key part of our ability to travel on a budget including our 2015 trip to Oahu, Hawaii and a couple of trips to Europe. So when I learned that the Chase Sapphire Reserve 100,000 point bonus was ending January 11th, 2017 I knew I had to apply.
In 2015 Chase announced new rules to cut down on credit card churners, i.e. those who signup for credit cards and subsequently cancel the card immediately or before the annual fee. This has been dubbed the 5/24 rule. If you have signed up for 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months you are likely to be declined and this rule applies to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
Despite me being fully aware of this rule and knowingly having signed up for 5 cards in the last 2 years I decided to give it a shot anyway. Credit Karma had me pegged at 6 inquiries, 5 of which came from credit card companies including 3 from Chase (at least I’m a loyal card churner).
With only 6 inquiries total on my credit report I thought I was doing pretty good compared to my all time high of 9 in February 2015 (woops!). Credit Karma provides an inquiry history chart which is helpful.
This is a long winded of saying I was denied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and unfortunately so was Miss QCI. There is a Chase reconsideration line you can call (888-270-2127) but don’t expect it to help if you too, have broken the 5/24 rule. Miss QCI called the number herself only to be told that she has applied for too many cards. Unfortunately this is my fault, we were both on the verge and unfortunately I decided to recently get the Barclay Arrival+ card for both me and Miss QCI. I would have been better off first getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and then moving on to other cards. Lesson learned!
I leave you with my Chase decline letter…
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